


Cultural Differences

by MaraLan



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order (Video Game)
Genre: Awkwardness, F/M, First Time, Fluff and Smut, I like the gameplay mechanics as much as I like the characters and it shows, I love these two space idiots, Inappropriate Use of the Force, Merrin is VERY forward, Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, Post-Canon, Some nonconsentual touching, Sorry the tags got an overhaul, The last chapter got graphic, soft boi Kal Kestis, they are in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-26
Updated: 2020-03-05
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:48:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22903462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaraLan/pseuds/MaraLan
Summary: Shortly after they escape the Fortress Inquisitorius, Cal and Merrin learn more about each others' force powers, but have some misunderstandings along the way.
Relationships: BD-1 & Cal Kestis, Cal Kestis/Merrin
Comments: 34
Kudos: 307





	1. Chapter 1

Ever since Cal met Merrin on Dathomir, he had been strangely drawn to her. Perhaps he had forgotten what it was like to be around another strong Force user. Now, weeks after she had joined their little team on the Mantis, the image of her face seemed to be stuck in his head like a song. When he closed his eyes to meditate, he often had to push her from his mind. At first he thought that it was simply because they were spending so much time together, but now, he knew that this was something different, more intense.  
Cal had tried to stay true to the Jedi way. He told himself that it was good to admire the beauty of the universe, and the universe included Merrin. Besides, he was at the age where it was natural to notice the attractiveness of other beings. He tried to keep his feelings in check and limit his attachments, but the truth was, he cared for Merrin, Cere, BD-1 and even Greez, more than he thought a true Jedi should. 

“What are you looking at?” Merrin asked. 

Cal gave a start. It was just the two of them in the kitchen. Greez and Cere were in the cockpit, making a list of supplies they needed. He was supposed to be watering the terrarium, but he had been staring at Merrin instead. She was making a midday meal from their quickly dwindling rations, squeezing the contents of a vacuum-sealed pouch into a plasteel pot to mix with water. As she tucked a strand of gray hair behind her ear, she smudged a bit of the mixture on her temple. 

“Sorry, I was…You’ve got some on your face,” he said, stepping toward her and pointing. Merrin raised an eyebrow, not convinced.

“I’ve noticed you staring at me more frequently over the past few days, Cal Kestis,” She continued, not looking up from her work. “Do you find my appearance pleasing?” 

Cal stood there with no idea what to say. He could feel his face turning red. She was right, of course. She was beautiful, quick-thinking, and powerful. Most of all, she understood him on a level that no one else could. She knew what it was like to lose your home and your friends, and in a way, your identity. The pain and longing he could sometimes see in her eyes brought up a plethora of emotions for him, but also forged a deep bond. 

"I s-suppose I do," he stuttered. "I'm sorry, Merrin. I didn't mean…" 

She gave him a wry smile and a nod of approval. "I will permit it. When I am done with this meal, you and I can go to my quarters and you will pleasure me." 

Cal was sure he had misheard her. He felt dizzy, maybe sick. She couldn’t really mean…? From what Cere had told him of the Nightsisters and what he had observed on Dathomir, it seemed the male Dathomirians were entirely subservient to the females. What exactly was Merrin expecting of him? 

Merrin looked up and met his eyes. Finally, she stopped cooking and turned toward him, concerned. 

“Oh, I can see that I’ve offended you,” she said. 

“No! Merrin, I like you a lot, it’s just-” Cal glanced around to make sure that Cere and Greez weren’t listening. He could still hear them in the cockpit, discussing what supplies to pick up next. The tightness in Cal’s chest loosened ever so slightly. He took a deep breath. 

“I think that humans and Dathomiri might have some big differences when it comes to relationships." He knew his voice was shaking. He was nervous, but he also didn't want to mess this up. Not with someone as important as her. 

"I see," Merrin said thoughtfully.

"Jedi aren’t- weren't- supposed to be in intimate relationships. It results in too much emotion. But I'm not sure I can really help it," Cal admitted, as much to her as to himself.  
Now it was Merrin's turn to look surprised. "I didn't realize that sex is so closely tied to intimacy and emotions for humans," she remarked. Cal's face somehow turned even redder.

"For Nightsisters, it was different. We had developed technology that made sex with males unnecessary for reproduction. We could still interact with them recreationally, but Nightsisters never formed bonds with Nightbrothers. It just didn't make sense to us. You could never form a bond with a brother as closely as you could with a sister." 

Cal realized that at some point he had sat down at the table, still holding the full cup of water meant for the terrarium. Merrin sat across from him, elbows on the table, and rested her chin in her hand thoughtfully. Her gaze was piercing but not cold. 

“Humans usually form a strong emotional bond before anything… physical,” he explained. "And males and females work together. We aren’t separate, the way the Dathomiri are. That counts for all parts of life.” 

Merrin was frowning. Was that a look of disappointment? 

“I understand,” Merrin said, suddenly rising from the table. She collected her food and walked briskly over to the couch and sat facing away from him, silently eating her meal.  
Cal tried to follow, but she gave him a glare when he sat down. 

“We don’t need to discuss this any more, Cal. I think we understand each other clearly now,” she said with finality. 

Cal was sure that they did NOT understand each other at all. However, he had known Merrin long enough to know when she needed space. He went into the back room to meditate. 

“Boop beep?” BD-1 greeted him as he sat on the floor of the back cabin in his usual meditation spot. The droid could tell that something was bothering Cal.  
“I don’t know. It’s Merrin. She’s…complicated,” Cal mused to BD. A series of beeps told Cal that BD-1 couldn’t offer much advice, but was confident everything would work out in the end. 

“Thanks buddy,” Cal smiled. “Sometimes your optimism is exactly what I need.”


	2. Into the woods

Despite their awkward conversation earlier, Cal and Merrin were still able to work together well. They even discussed other things about themselves, including the differences and similarities between their Force powers. Merrin had always known that because the Nightsisters had all died when she was so young, she had not learned all there was to learn. Sometimes, talking to Cal about how he used the Force helped her understand a bit more about her own power. He had even taught her a few basic meditation exercises that seemed to focus her abilities, as long as she was holding her talisman, a piece of white stone shaped like a broken orb that fit neatly into one hand. 

A few days later, they stopped on Takodana for supplies. Merrin gasped when she looked out the window to see that the Mantis had landed on the edge of a vast lake, with a large castle in the distance. Water was rare on Dathomir, and she had never seen such a clean, blue expanse of it. 

“Okay, we’ve arrived! I’m heading over to the cantina for a few hours. I’ve got some business to take care of,” Greez announced. 

Cere gave him a sidelong glance. “You’d better behave yourself, Captain,” she said. “I guess I’ll stay here to receive the supplies, then. Cal, Merrin, I’ve intercepted some interesting transmissions. It seems that there’s a Rebel encampment not too far from here. It might be worth visiting to gather any intel.” 

Cal nodded in agreement. 

"Beep-boop?" BD-1 exclaimed, his antennae perking up. Merrin still hadn't quite learned his language, but she could guess what he asking. 

"Of course you're coming, buddy," Cal said, swinging the droid up onto his shoulder. Merrin felt a pang of irritation at Cal's chipper tone. Cal never spoke to her in such an affectionate way. She hoped that whatever tension between them would smooth over soon. 

Once outside, Merrin almost nearly forgot about her crewmate troubles. The water was even more blue than it had looked from the Mantis window, and the ground was coated in short, bright green grass. There was a lush forest just past the settlement they had landed in, and she could see many species walking among the wooden buildings.  
She followed Cal in a daze, drinking in the thin, clean air of the foreign planet, examining every plant, animal, and material she could see. She slowed down to stare at a large, two-legged wrinkly creature taller than a human that was using a fleshy snout to eat slop from a trough. 

Cal grabbed her by the hand and led her on. "Don't get too distracted," he told her gently. They stopped near the center of town, where Cal asked a passerby where the encampment was. 

Well, you’re clearly not Imps, so I guess I’ll tell you,” the old man said, “They’re a short ways north from here, through the forest. Follow the lakeshore and you can’t get lost.”  
Cal thanked the old man and they headed off on foot. 

As they moved through the forest, BD-1 scanned a variety of interesting flora and fauna, jumping from Cal’s shoulder with a “Booo-weep!” every time.  
“He uploads all his scans to a datapad. You can look at it when we get back,” Cal told Merrin when he caught her frowning at a purple mushroom BD-1 had discovered. They both enjoyed the walk, not in any particular hurry. 

It was a beautiful day, Merrin thought, especially when she got to watch Cal lead the way through the forest, skillfully slashing through vines, scaling difficult terrain with ease, crossing ravines with the help of the Force. He was fascinating to her. As strong as any Nightbrother, but much more agile. His Force powers added a gracefulness to his movements that she had never seen before. How much of that strength was the muscles on his body, and how much of it was his command of the Force? Merrin desperately wanted to know. 

“Merrin, I need to tell you something,” Cal said suddenly. “It’s about that conversation we had a few days ago. I think you got the wrong impression.” 

“I got the impression that you do not consider our relationship intimate, and therefore you will not consider having sex with me,” Merrin said flatly, walking a bit faster to put distance between them. Cal kept up with her stride easily. She silently cursed those long legs of his. 

Cal sighed. “That’s not what I was trying to say. You are one of the most important people in my life, Merrin. I care about you a lot. But this kind of came out of nowhere. I mean, shouldn’t we spend some time together first?” 

“We are literally together all the time!” Merrin said, on the edge of a laugh. She gestured around them. “We are together right now!” 

“I mean romantically,” Cal said, a slight growl of frustration in his voice.

“You mean a mating ritual,” she said knowingly. “Yes, I have heard of such things.” 

Cal sighed again and fell silent for a moment. “I guess you could think of it like that,” he admitted. 

Merrin was about to respond but stopped walking suddenly. “Did you hear that?” The unmistakable sound of voices distorted through helmets. A flash of white ahead of them through the trees confirmed what Merrin suspected- there was a group of four stormtroopers ahead of them. 

“Damn, the Empire is here, too?” Cal hissed as they both ducked behind a wide tree trunk. The storm troopers might have walked right past them, but Cal leapt out, whirling his blue lightsaber, and in a moment, it was over. The armored men lay in a heap on the forest floor. 

In a flash of green light Merrin warped fifty paces ahead, remaining invisible, to see if there were more. Over a small bluff she could see down into the bay where the encampment lay. It was in smoking ruins. She warped back to Cal’s side. 

“They raided the encampment. I didn’t see anyone there,” Merrin reported. 

“We’ve got another problem. It’s starting to get dark,” Cal said, glancing at the sky. They headed back through the forest toward the Mantis, following the lakeshore but using the trees for cover. Soon it was nearly pitch-black in the forest, but BD-1 provided enough light for them to keep their footing and keep track of the lakeshore. It felt as though they had been walking in the dark for hours. The night felt cold to Merrin, and she pulled her cloak tighter around her shoulders, shivering. 

Every now and then they would encounter a group of close-range stormtroopers. The forest was overrun with them, and they seemed to be coming from every direction. Merrin wasn’t sure she had ever seen so many. Maybe Cal was used to fighting hordes of enemies for hours, but she wasn’t. Every blast of magick seemed to take a little more effort, and turning invisible so many times was starting to give her a headache. She could tell both of them were making more mistakes than usual.

The sound of crackling electricity nearby put Merrin on alert, but before she could warn Cal, they had stumbled straight into a squad of purge troopers. Cal took a hit to his side before he could even draw his lightsaber. He stumbled back into Merrin, and she instinctively wrapped her free arm around him and warped the the three of them away, as far as she could take them, deeper into the forest. 

Cal’s weight slumped against her. He clutched his side. The blow had re-opened the wound dealt by Darth Vader, just a few weeks ago. There was a clink of glass as BD-1 released a stim canister, which Merrin took and stabbed into Cal’s shoulder. 

“Can you walk? We need to find shelter,” she said, forcing herself to stay calm. 

Slowly, breathing heavily, Cal straightened up and let go of Merrin, wincing with every step forward. “You’re right. The forest is crawling with Imps, and we don’t even know the way back to the ship. We need somewhere to hide."

“Beep-woop!” BD-1 exclaimed, hopping off Cal’s shoulder and scurrying toward a large shape in the darkness. Clutching her talisman, Merrin created a small orb of green light so they could see better. She watched Cal's navy blue poncho disappear into the hatch of some kind of wrecked ship. Merrin followed close behind, ducking into the hatch as well.


	3. Camp out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cal teaches Merrin a human mating ritual.

To Cal, crawling inside a wrecked ship felt like coming home. It was a republic cruiser, old but well-built, with about half the interior still intact. The sleeping quarters had been crushed, but the soft couches in the main compartment would do well for the night. There was even some juice left in one of the power cells, and he was able to turn the lights on. He had certainly slept in worse places. 

Merrin had already settled in, curled up on one of the couches, using her cloak as a blanket. Even so, she was shivering. Cal pulled off his poncho and laid it across her lap.  
“Thank you,” she said through chattering teeth. He sat on the couch next to her, wincing again. “Time to look at that wound,” Merrin said, moving to pull up his shirt.  
“It’s okay, Merrin, I’ve got it,” he said, grabbing her hand before she could touch him. Cal knew just about everything there was to know about tending to your own wounds. Not to mention that Merrin’s hands on him would only increase his heart rate, and right now, he needed to rest. He spent a few minutes applying bacta to numb the pain, as well as a healing stim, but it would take time to heal. 

“Boop-boop, boop-boop!” BD-1 beeped frantically, tapping one foot against Cal’s leg. 

“He says there are troops right outside,” Cal whispered to Merrin. He accepted her shoulder to lean on as the three of them moved to the back of the cabin, crouching low behind a countertop. BD-1 plugged into the power circuit and shut off the lights before hurrying over to sit in Cal’s lap. Merrin took out her talisman and began a soft incantation. She sat as close as she could to Cal and drew a circle of magic around them, making them invisible, right as the first few stormtroopers crawled through the hatch into the cabin.  
“I don’t see them,” one said. 

“You barely checked! You have to look under the tables,” said another. Cal held his breath as a purge trooper shined a light over the counter, looking straight through them. Merrin continued mouthing the words to her chant, and squeezed her eyes closed in concentration. After what felt like a long moment, the troopers cleared out, and Merrin let the green magick fade away. 

He couldn't see her face in the dark, but he whispered, “I never get tired of that, you know. You’re amazing.” Maybe it was the bacta finally kicking in, but Cal was suddenly feeling much better. When BD-1 powered the lights back on, Merrin’s brown eyes were gazing at him intensely. They were inches apart, he realized. Her hip was pressed against his, and her pale, tattooed hand had made its way onto his knee, and before he realized what he was doing he had reached out to touch her face, running his fingers down her cheekbone and resting them under that proud chin of hers. 

He leaned over carefully, trying not to put pressure on his wound, and kissed her. She pulled away, but only an inch or so. “What are you doing?” 

“Human mating ritual,” he breathed, leaning forward slightly to connect them again. 

He heard the sound of her talisman being placed on the floor, and felt Merrin reposition herself so that he could stay leaning against the wall, and wrapped them both up in his poncho. Her hands move carefully across his legs and up his chest to rest at the back of his neck. One of her fingers twisted a piece of his red hair. 

Cal had kissed a few girls before, back on Bracca. But it had never been anything like this. He moved his lips against hers gently at first, but Merrin was bold and enthusiastic, and he was getting a little more than he bargained for. He ran his tongue along her dark bottom lip, and she matched the movement with a little extra force. Her tongue flicked into his mouth, and she nibbled on his lip, coming dangerously close to drawing blood with her sharp teeth. 

"Careful," he murmured. She slid back instantly, her eyes searching his. 

"Sorry," she murmured. He gave her a slight smile of encouragement, and her lips returned to his like the swing of a pendulum, like an inevitability.  
Cal couldn't help but think of his meditation practice. Their breathing was rhythmic, syncronized. But while meditation made him feel centered and grounded, kissing Merrin made him feel like he was flying. Waves of calm and excitement crashed over him in a combination he could barely process. He could almost feel a palpable energy swirling around them.  
“Are you using magick right now?” he asked.

She let out a low laugh. “No,” she said. “Why, would you like me to?” 

Cal’s hands had been cradling her face, running fingers through her hair, but now he moved them cautiously down her neck across her collarbone, ghosting past her breasts to rest on her thin waist. 

He kissed her neck once before whispering into her ear. “Maybe next time.” 

Cal realized that he had just taught Merrin her new favorite move. She kissed his neck ravenously, respecting his wish for her to avoid biting, but instead, licking and sucking until he suspected he was getting bruised. He didn’t mind at all. Every kiss gave him goosebumps, and every brush of her chest or legs against him made him hard. 

Before long, however, her kissing started to slow down. She tried resting her head on his chest, then decided to put her head in his lap. He could feel her breath slowing down. “You’re much softer than the Nightbrothers,” she mumbled with a yawn. “Much more delicious.” 

Cal was still in a daze when he realized that Merrin had fallen asleep. He didn’t blame her. He was exhausted too. But they were somehow still on the floor, and the comfy couch cushions were calling to him. As gently as possible, he roused Merrin and coaxed her over to the couch, where they collapsed in a heap. She nuzzled into Cal’s chest, intertwining one of her legs in his, before falling right back asleep. 

It took Cal longer, however. He thought a lot about the Jedi Code, about what his master would have thought about what he was doing. Of course, it hardly mattered now, not with the Jedi Order gone for good. He had to forge ahead, and that is what he would do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayyy thanks for reading. Feel free to give feedback or even critique my grammar if you feel so inclined. I love Merrin but I found it really challenging to write from her perspective. Fun ship (pun intended). Will I ever get the the courage to write an actual sex scene? Who knows!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merrin teases Cal a lot.

A few weeks after their supply run on Takodana, Cal was still not sure where he stood with Merrin. They hadn’t had much time to themselves. Even though each crew member had their own cabin, it was still a very small ship with thin walls, and Greez had a particular disregard for knocking.

Cal had tried to keep whatever was going on between him and Merrin separate from the dynamic with the rest of the group. He hoped that however it played out, they would all still be able to travel together. 

The truth was, she intimidated him sometimes. In some ways, she was more experienced than he was. Not to mention that her Force powers rivaled his own, which was turning out to be a double-edged sword. 

Merrin had been teasing Cal for weeks. She would use magick to whisper dirty things in his ear or run her fingers down the back of his neck from a room away, taking him by surprise at inopportune times. The first time she did it, he was sitting in the cockpit next to Greez, and he had nearly jumped out of his skin. 

He had to admit that he liked it when she did it at night, when he was alone, and he could give himself a release from the tension she was building between them. He wondered if in her cabin, she was doing the same. The thought left him even more aroused, and in the morning he often found himself restless and aching. 

Now the Mantis was circling back to Kashyyk, at the request of the rebel leader Saw Gererra, to provide a guard for some kind of supply transport for the rebellion. Once they landed, Cal joined Cere at the holotable, confirming the location of the rebel partisans. He and Cere were about to disembark when what he felt invisible hand snake down his chest, lower and lower until they reached the front of his pants, sliding under the waistband. Cal inhaled sharply and stepped back, only taking a moment to realize what had happened. 

“You alright?” Cere asked, clipping her blaster into its holster. 

He was trying not to blush. “Yeah, I just… I need to do something. You go on without me, I’ll catch up. Don’t worry, it’s nothing, I promise,” he said, preemptively answering her look of concern. She shrugged and left the ship, taking BD-1 along for company. 

Cal growled and marched straight into Merrin's cabin, where she was sitting cross-legged on her cot, cradling her talisman, wearing an unusually low-cut tunic and dark leggings. She gave him a look of faux surprise, which became a smirk when she saw the irritation on his face. 

"Merrin," he began. Before he got another word out, she was striding past him out of the room. He caught her arm, but she phased out of his grasp with a flicker of green light. 

"Hey!"

“You’ll have to do better than that to stop me,” she purred. She made it to the doorway before giving a yelp of surprise to find herself being dragged back toward him, and he caught her by the shoulders. He backed her against the wall, looming over her, leaning in close. 

"You will stop," he said through gritted teeth. His angry tone only lasted a fleeting moment before he came back to his senses. "Please. Not in front of the others," he added, relaxing his grip. 

Cal had surprised even himself. He had Force-pulled her! It felt completely wrong. Why, then, was Merrin giving him the biggest grin he had ever seen? She squirmed playfully in his arms, and her movements seemed to solidify the growing hardness in his pants. 

“Just trying to get your attention,” she said. 

As often happened when the got this close, Cal found himself kissing her again. They had gotten quite good at it, he thought. This time, however, he was already aching for her. He felt as if he was on the edge of a cliff, about to jump into the unknown. 

His lips caressed hers with a torrent of sensation, deep and full. Her hands moved under his poncho, then under his shirt, and he saw a flash of green, a moment of weightlessness, and realized that Merrin had warped them onto her bed, just a few feet away. Without even opening his eyes, he Force-pushed the door closed. 

Cal was flat on his back. Merrin was hovering over him, breath steady. 

"Is this okay?" she asked. In answer, Cal sat up and pulled his poncho and shirt over his head. Merrin slid off the bed to pull off shirt and leggings, and Cal removed the rest of his clothes too, until they were both in nothing but skin. 

Merrin was radiant, he thought. She had a few more tattoos running across her collarbone and down her legs, which contrasted her white-gray complexion. She was thin, and he could see the bones of her hips, but her thighs looked soft and supple. 

She was clearly comfortable like this. He, however, felt a bit vulnerable, realizing that he couldn't remember the last time he was naked in front of anyone. He suddenly felt doubt creeping in. Most of his life, he had been sure this would never happen. He hadn't wanted it to. Maybe he was being too rash right now. This would truly be going against the Jedi tradition, a point of no return. 

Merrin sensed his hesitation. They sat on the bed together, a bit of space between them.

"What is it?" She asked.

Cal shook his head, trying to clear it. He thought he had gotten over this. When he first met Merrin, it felt like destiny. Two young Force users, the last of their kind, meeting just as a glimmer of hope had moved him to action for the first time in years. He had already decided that she was worth the risk. But somehow, that wasn’t making it easier in this moment. 

Merrin seemed to be reading his mind. She pushed herself up further onto the bed, wrapping a blanket around his shoulders. 

“Cal, if you don’t want to-”  
“I do,” he said firmly. “I just need a minute.” 

Cal closed his eyes and took some deep breaths. He reminded himself that the Jedi were gone, and that the guilt looming over him was from ghosts. Things were very different now. And damn it, he deserved something good after all he had been through. 

“You’re beautiful, Cal Kestis,” Merrin said in that gravelly voice of hers. “And don’t think of this as the end of something. Think of it as the beginning.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cal and Merrin realize that their similarities are more important than their differences. And their similarities lie mostly in their Force powers.

Merrin observed her Jedi carefully. He was laying against the pillow, one arm behind his head, staring at the ceiling. She was nestled beside him on the small bed, knees tucked into her chest. Outwardly she was patient and gentle. Inwardly she was burning with anticipation.

His mind was wandering, she could tell. She wanted to bring him back here, into this moment, into her arms. She ran her fingers through his hair soothingly. She loved his hair; it was the color of the last light of dusk on Dathomir. 

She traced the scars on his shoulders and chest, ran her thumb over the rectangular tattoo on his right forearm, and brought his hand up to brush against her lips, waiting for a sign. She reached out with her mind, sensing his emotions with magick. Taken to extremes, nightsisters could possess people, but gentle contact would allow her a glimpse at his feelings.

There was the dull pain of survival, which she expected, but also a torrent of guilt mixed with longing and an edge of excitement. It was impossible for her to separate it all out. He stirred on the bed. Opening their mental connection was a two-way street, and she knew that he could sense the desire overwhelming her. 

When he met her eyes, it was like flipping a switch. His guilt suddenly waned, replaced by an onslaught of warm feelings, some lazy and pleasant, some animalistic. He sat up and leaned toward her, close enough that she could see every freckle and scar on his pale skin. He pulled her onto his lap and kissed her, his strong arms holding her tight against his chest. 

A flood of relief and joy came over Merrin. This was what she had hoped for. She wrapped her legs around him and kissed him deeply.

"Mmm." The sound he made sent a shot of electricity down her spine straight to her belly. They seemed awash in heat, and Merrin flexed her hips against his, feeling his growing erection against her inner thighs. She peeled away from him just enough to reach down and stroke his shaft lightly with her hand. “Fuck,” he hissed into her ear. 

“Good?” she asked. 

“Good.” 

A gasp escaped her as he reached up to bury his hand in her hair and tug, kissing her neck as he did so. Then he pushed her onto her back, and Merrin felt her hands stretch over her head of their own accord, wrists invisibly restrained. Cal’s playful smile fell for a moment, but she gave him a nod of approval, and he leaned in to kiss her hard. This was definitely more her speed, she thought briefly, before her mind was completely engulfed in the sensations of his lips and hands working their way down her body. His swirled his tongue briefly on one of her nipples, across her stomach, and finally his mouth found its way between her legs, and he began licking into her mercilessly. Merrin gasped and moaned, bucking her hips, arms braced against the Force holding her there. He moved one hand up to fondle her breast, giving her goosebumps all over again, and she felt as if she wouldn’t be able to hold on much longer before she reached a breaking point. 

Out of nowhere Cal stopped. He raked his fingers down the length of her thighs as her breath evened out and her head cleared a bit. He sat back on his heels, licking his lips, leaving her with only his hands on her legs for contact. His gaze equal parts affection and mischief. 

“Come back,” she nearly whimpered in desperation. She willed him back onto her with Magick, but he braced his arms against the covers and resisted. 

“Now now, that’s cheating,” he chided, but the distraction was enough that he dropped his concentration and her wrists came free. Finally, the upper hand was hers. 

In an instant she had slammed him down against the soft mattress, straddling him and sliding his shaft into her with a sigh of satisfaction. She rested her forehead against his shoulder for a moment, drinking in his earthy scent, listening to his ragged breathing. Then she began riding him with abandon. Each thrust brought her pleasure to a new height, and Cal’s hold on her hips tightened, until Merrin felt her breaths shorten into nothing, and every muscle in her body convulse, right on the edge of climax. Cal raised a hand and used the Force to slow them. 

Merrin heard her own cry draw out, echoing, as the waves of pleasure stretched out surreally, filling every inch of her from her toes to the top of her head, and just when she thought it couldn’t go on any longer, she plunged even deeper into her orgasm. 

She couldn’t see, she couldn’t hear, she couldn’t think. All she could do was feel, and the agonizing ecstasy was forcing her into a state of hyperawareness. The pressure of his fingers against her hips, the sheen of sweat on her forehead, her nails digging into his muscles, and the sweet friction of his cock inside her were the only reality left as she hurdled into oblivion. 

Cal wasn't far behind her. She felt his breath catch, and it took all her concentration to keep her hips moving as his whole body tensed, his shaft throbbing. He threw his head back as he came, pulling her down onto him with a gasp.

The slowing effect finally started to wane and she was almost grateful to come down from the high, to be able to move at a normal pace again. She rolled off of him, leaving one leg around his hip. It took them both a long time to catch their breath. She looked into his green eyes, perfectly content, reveling in the afterglow.

"You're amazing," he breathed, his fingers stroking the nape of her neck. 

"That felt like a near death experience," she said. He frowned. "In a good way," she assured him. 

"Well I've had enough of those. I just want…" 

She propped her head on one elbow, waiting for him to finish the thought. 

"I don't know. Right now I'm just really happy," he finished with a half-hearted smile. She could sense that he was telling the truth, but also holding something back. She didn't push it though. He was complicated, and she liked it, and she would take her time unraveling him. Never before had Merrin wanted to stay so close to a man for so long. Then again, she had never met anyone like Cal. 

Merrin climbed out of bed, wrapping herself in a blanket and heading for the refresher. She closed the door behind her, and turned to see Greez staring at her, mouth open in surprise, from the end of the hall. She gave him her most intimidating “I-dare-you-to-say-something” look, and went on her way, unbothered. If the crew hadn’t known something was going on between her and Cal, they did now.

When she got back to her room Cal was already getting dressed again. 

“Back to work,” he said woefully, pulling on his boots. She was disappointed, but she knew it was true. He had to go meet Cere and the other rebel partisans. 

She wrapped her arms around his neck, giving him a serious look. 

“Cal Kestis... you’re like a sister to me.” 

He blinked at her, shaking his head. 

“Please don’t call me that,” he said with a smile. “But I know what you mean. Thanks.”

**Author's Note:**

> Send me smutty Merrical requests on Tumblr at darkowl-records


End file.
